Louis Robert Fudge diaries

Louis Robert Fudge (1886-1957) was born in Ingham, the eldest son of Albert John Wellman Fudge and Naomi Hooper. The couple immigrated to Queensland five days after their marriage in 1884. After spending time on a sugar plantation at Hamley and the tin mines of Kangaroo Hills, the young family settled in Mirani West in 1895 at a farm which they named 'Yeolands' and which was their family home for over 50 years. Louis had two brothers and three sisters, the children were educated at the Mirani State School, where Louis excelled both academically and in the sporting field. He enlisted with AIF in November 1915 in Rockhampton and was assigned to the 41st Infantry Battalion. At the time he was a 29 year old locomotive driver. Louis had married Ellen Andrews, known as Nellie, in 1914. He embarked from Sydney on HMAT 'Demosthenes' on the 18th May 1916 and spent time at Lark Hill Camp on the Salisbury Plain in England. Shortly after arriving Louis was promoted to sergeant and was responsible for training the troops in bayonet fighting and physical training. In September 1917 he proceeded to France to serve in the front lines of the Western Front, including the Battle of Passchendaele. In November 1917 he was repatriated to hospital in England suffering from nephritis. He was classified as unfit for general service due to his health and after sightseeing in England he embarked for Australia in March 1918. On the way back he read in a 'Queenslander' newspaper that his brother Edgar Fudge (service no. 5791) had died of wounds in Belgium on the 27 February 1918. Louis arrived in Sydney, Australia, on the 12 May 1918. After the war he returned to his work with Queensland Railways as a locomotive driver. He died in 1957.